Ripped off; a tale of warning

My wifes debit card info was stolen last week, and until things are straightened out were in a bit of disarray.

The card wasnt physically taken; the best we can figure is that a nefarious store clerk with a fast memory managed to glance at and remember the card number, expiration date and that three-digit number on the back  probably while verifying Sallys signature  and write it down. Either that, or someone somehow managed to get that info when the card was swiped through a machine. Sally made several purchases within a few days while traveling last week, and although weve reported those places to the bank its still going to be tough to narrow down.

And then the charges started. All of them, according to the bank, occurred around 1 a.m., a time of day I havent personally been conscious to witness in a long time. Every charge came from Xbox Live, an online gaming site, and totaled several hundred dollars.

She first suspected something was up when her card didnt work to get gas, which prompted me to check our account online  where all those charges had just posted. Our checking account was down to about 50 bucks. I called the bank immediately to report it, but in the meantime there were checks out there and a number of purchases wed made in the previous several days that hadnt cleared yet.

Naturally, the posting that tipped us over the edge was mine. Two purchases, actually, made necessary by my returning to the shop: Some supplies from the local Big Box, and a quantity of really nice walnut from my local wood monger. Now overdrawn, the fees for our overdraft protection start kicking in  a $36 courtesy charge for each occurrence. So even though we werent really over the line that much initially, every transaction (including one check for a mere $5.13) incurred the fee when it posted, quickly pushing the account deeper into the red.

So, at the moment were several hundred dollars in the hole from the original theft, plus an even larger amount in overdraft fees. Ugh. The good news is that this ultimately wont cost us anything except a big hassle  itll take a week or two, but those fraudulent charges will be erased, and all those $36 penalty fees eventually refunded to our account.

Not a lot of woodworking discussion here this time around, but I think the point Im making here is both simple and obvious: Be careful with your credit cards.

A.J. Hamler is the former editor of Woodshop News and Woodcraft Magazine. He's currently a freelance woodworking writer/editor, which is another way of stating self-employed. When he's not writing or in the shop, he enjoys science fiction, gourmet cooking and Civil War reenacting, but not at the same time.